**2. Grape and wine industry in China**

In the past decades, the area used for grape cultivation and the total wine production and consumption in China has rapidly expanded. Relevant statistics regarding the grape and wine industry since the birth of the People's Republic of China are shown in **Table 1**.

As can be seen from **Table 1** below, China has accomplished great success in the grape and wine industry with unprecedented speed, both in terms of vineyard area, wine production, and consumption. According to the latest International Organization of Vine and Wine (OIV) report on the world Viti vinicultural situation (2019 and 2020) [4, 5], the size of the total world area under vines (regardless of the final destination of the grapes and including vineyards not yet in production) remained stable at 7.3 mha (millions of hectares) in 2020. With 961 kha, Spain remains the clear leader in terms of cultivated vine area, followed by France (797 kha) and China (785kha).

The world wine production (excluding juice and musts) in 2020 was estimated at 258 mhl as Italy (49.10 mhl) maintained its position as the world's leading producer, followed by France (46.60 mhl) and Spain (40.70 mhl). China, on the other hand, produced 6.60 mhl. The data shows a slight drop in global wine consumption (estimated at around 234 mhl) in 2020 because of the COVID-19 outbreak. The United States (33.0 mhl), France (24.7mhl), and Italy (24.5 mhl) maintained their top three positions as the world's largest consuming countries with China ranking sixth with 12.4 mhl consumption in the world.

In China, Red varieties account for nearly 80% of the total vineyard area, while the white varieties proportion was only 20% [3]. Red wine is also far more popular *Winemaking in Cold Regions with Buried Viticulture in China DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.99614*


*Note: It is estimated that wine grape production area only occupies 10% of the total vineyard. Units: kha, thousands of hectares; mt, millions of tons; khl, thousands of hectolitres; and mhl, millions of hectolitres.* **Source:** *National Bureau of Statistics in China (vineyard area and grape production), and China alcoholic drinks association (wine production).*

#### **Table 1.**

*The vineyard area, grape production, and wine production in China.*

in the Chinese market than other types of wine, and a large section of the population refers to such wine as "红酒" (Hóngjiu), because of its red color. ˇ
